The Last Days
by PudLea
Summary: Elizabeth has it all. Two best friends, an awesome brother, a great school with cool teachers, and she is pretty popular. But, when one thing slips from her fingers, her whole life comes crashing down, and she struggles to learn the meaning of true love.
1. snow boarding

"Woo! Yeah!!" I yelled loudly, the cold air blowing my face, as I shoved my gloved hand into the air. The red and yellow snowboard that was stuck under my feet was swishing in the snow as I swiveled and scurried around the rocks and distractions in my path. My two best friends, Sara and Ryan, were on either side of me, whooping and hollering like me, their boards splashing freezing white ice around them. My red cap was blowing off, so i quickly slapped my hand against my loosening hat.

"Yeah! Go Elizabeth!" I heard Sara scream beside me.I whipped my head around and gave a giddy thumbs up. She grinned and watched as the slope came closer every second. When it arrived, I let go of my hat and jumped into a back flip, my hair sprawling out around my pink face. I landed perfectly, snow splashing up on my suit. I shook my hair and looked up at Ryan. He smiled and yelled "I could do better than that!" I laughed to myself and looked out in front of me, knowing it was time to stop, but I didn't want to. I was having way to much fun.

My older brother Andrew was waiting at the bottom of the hill, leaning on his silver truck, checking out a girl walking by. Sara picked up a snowball and threw it as hard as she could, nailing Andrew in the face. Ryan and I rolled on the ground laughing, as Andrew threw a snowball right back at her. We were all still laughing as we piled into the truck.

"Hey, let's get ice cream!" Ryan joked.

"Oh please. As much snow as you ate today, there is NO way you would want ice cream." Sara laughed. Everyone cracked up. Ryan scraped muddy snow off the bottom of his boot and threw it at Sara's face. Everyone laughed even harder. Ryan's green eyes were radiant and bright. Sara leaned over me to slap him in the back of the head. He shot me a CUTE, crooked half-smile, that i had a hard time resisting, and push his golden-brown locks away from his glowing eyes. He used that same smile on me when he dared me to swing off of a rope from his tree house, and later broke my leg. He knew I would do what ever he wanted when he used that smile, and he was right.

Andrew cranked up the volume on the radio. We all bobbed our heads together with the music, singing the words we knew as loudly as we could. Ryan rolled down the window and stuck his head out, letting the wind blow his hair around his face. When he pulled his head back in, his hair was sticking up in random places. Sara leaned her head back and laughed. Her green braces sparkled. She attempted to push her brown hair out of her eyes, but her short cut bangs weren't going back without a fight.

"Gahh! I am so tired of these stupid bangs! I am almost ready to shave my head." Sara joked, in a slightly frustrated tone.

"I wanna see that. I would laugh my head off if you went Brittany Spears on us, Sara." Ryan smirked. Sara giggled and punched him in the arm. He shrieked and fake sobbed. I rolled my eyes and looked out my window, watching the big, orange sun set on the horizon.

"So, what's the plan? Am I taking you guys home or what?" Andrew asked.

"Nah, we were planing on going shopping tomorrow, so we'll just stay at your house." Sara shrugged.

About five minutes into the drive, Sara and Ryan had both fallen asleep. I was exhausted, just about every muscle in my body was aching and cold, but i was enjoying watching Ryan sleep to much to sleep myself. I admired his gold-brown hair and the way it was flipped to the left side of his perfectly round head. I watched his muscular chest move up and down as he breathed. Almost suddenly, his head slid down the seat and landed on my shoulder. I carefully laid my head on his and smiled, thinking it might be okay to sleep for a while.


	2. sleep over

Sara and I could still hear the corny music from Ryan and Andrew's video games from three rooms away. I flipped open my green and black razor and looked at the time. It was 3:00 in the morning. I sighed and rolled over, slapping Sara in the face.

"OUCH!" She shrieked.

"Oh, sorry. I was seeing if you were still awake." I laughed.

"Mhhm, i bet you were. You do know that _LIARS _don't go to heaven." she giggled. I scoffed and rolled my aqua eyes.

"You wanna know what I think?" Sara asked

"Hmm" I moaned

"I think that Ryan likes you."

I reached over and slapped her again. "How could you say that! We are friends, nothing more."

"I know, but still..." Sara said, popping a Jolly Rancher between her full lips.

I scoffed again.

"C'mon, you don't even think there is a teeny tiny possibility that he has a C-R-U-S-H on you?" She asked.

"NO!" I said. "Well, maybe a teeny tiny, little bitty, super duper small possibility."

"Mhhm, that's what I thought." Sara said. "So, do you like him?"

"I don't know. I mean, he an awesome person and everything, and of course I love him, he is my best bud, but it would be so weird to go out with him."

"But if you had an opportunity, would you go on a date with him?"

"Duh!" I laughed. "He is totally hot!"

"Yeah, that's true." Sara giggled

I woke up groggily, rubbing my burning eyes. Sara was lying beside me, texting on her purple sidekick. I groaned, rolling over on my stomach and stretching spastically. I rolled over and over again until I fell dramatically off my king-size bed and I landed with a "Oh!" on top of Ryan. We all cracked up.

"Well, good morning to you too, Lizzie." He grinned as I hopped off of his lap.

"Hey, sorry 'bout that." I apologized.

"He doesn't care...He liked it!" Sara joked sarcastically. I laughed freely until I saw Ryan's face. It was bright red, his gold hair was covering most of his flushing face.

"Stop blushing. Jeez, she was kidding!" I punched him in the arm playfully.

I skipped off to the bathroom. I looked in the mirror at the face that stared back. I tilted my head from side to side, checking out my face from every angle. I opened the cabinet/mirror thing and pulled out the brush from the shelf. When I closed the cabinet/mirror, Ryan was standing right behind me. I screamed and punched him in the arm, not so playfully this time.

"Don't do that!" I yelled, punching him again. "Geez, you need to stop watching scary movies! I'm afraid you are going to show up at my house with a knife someday."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little red pocket knife, about the size of a battery, and flipped out the tiny blade. "Put your hands up!" He screamed.

"Oh lord, I could bend that little piece of junk in half." I said, running the blue brush through my shoulder length, black hair.

"Yeah, probably." He said, flipping the tiny blade back and shoving his hands in his pockets. He sat on the side of the bathtub and watched my every move.

"E!" I heard Andrew yell, " I'm hungry!"

"Good, me too." I laughed "Get us some eggs and bacon."

Ryan pulled his EnV out of his pocket and walked out of the room. I followed him into the hall then went back into my room where I found Sara only half dressed.

"Which shirt, blue or yellow?" she asked.

"Well, I like yellow. It looks great with your hair."

"Hmm, that's true, but this blue one makes my butt look smaller." she laughed. She tossed the blue shirt into a pile of other "rejects" and pulled the bright yellow shirt over her heart shaped head. She had light wash skinny jeans, light brown Uggs, and, of course, a yellow shirt that had Hollister written across the front. Her brown hair was pulled into two, braided pig-tails that hung low on her head and draped over her shoulders.

I walked into my closet and saw where Sara had picked through my clothes. I didn't mind though, because we always shared clothes. We were pretty much like sisters. She was always at my house or i was at hers. We had been best friends since the second grade; when we first met.

I smiled at the memory, then looked through my clothes. I emerged from the closet with black skinny jeans, a red Aeropostale shirt, and red Vans. I smiled at my reflection in the mirror. It was skater girl with my own little Elizabeth touch. I pulled my hair back and pinned it, half up half down. My side bangs fell into there proper place and i smile again.

I walk over to my bed and sat on the very edge. My razor vibrated in my tiny hand.

**ANDREW: i rdy wen u r**

**LIZZY: k...give us 5 min. **I quickly typed.

**ANDREW: K...tell ever1 to bring coats...snowd last nite :D**

**LIZZY: yay!**

I finished getting ready, grabbed my coat, and sprinted to the living room. Sara and Ryan were sitting on the black, leather couch counting their money.

"Twenty five, fifty, seventy five, eighty five, ninety five..." Ryan counted

"It's not ninty five, that's a nickle, stupid." Sara slapped him in the back of the head.

"OW! Jeez, do you have to hit me? Ninety, is that better?"

"Yes, I am pleased" Sara smirked. "So you have two hundred dollars and ninety cents. Now help me count mine."

"You can count your money in the truck. We have to leave now if we wanna get the best sales!" I demanded.

Sara jump, startled. "Oh, hey I didn't know you were standing there."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "The best sales? We are going to Wall-Mart! I don't know what you are planning on buying, but we better hurry if we wanna get the "best sales" on that milk."

"We are not going to _Wall-Mart, _we are going to the mall." I hissed

"Jeez, someone is cranky." Sara giggled "You need a nap."

I slung my head over and narrowed my eyes. She stuck her tongue out at me. I cracked up at her green tongue. "You need to lay off the jolly ranchers" I laughed.


	3. clothes, coffee, and cuties

Sara and I parted from the boys after hearing the long, boring story about how they had stayed up all night playing Halo 3. We were headed for Hollister, Aeropostale, American Eagle, Pac Sun (our latest "favorite" store), Bath and Body Works, lunch at the coffee shop, then we were to wander around, aimlessly searching for cute boys and fun looking stores.

After spending hours shopping in the stores, we drug our arm loads of bags to the coffee shop. We both got iced coffee with extra chocolate, we needed the energy. As soon as we sat down Sara whispered something to me that I couldn't quite understand.

"OK, we are in a mall. You are going to have to speak a little bit louder if you want me to understand you." I rolled my eyes.

"That _hot_ new guy from school is here" She whispered a little louder.

"What! Where?"

"Ha, no way. You have a boyfriend, remember?"

"He is not my boyfriend!! Oh my God, would you let it go already?" I whisper-shrieked.

"Bite me, jeez" she straightened in her chair and used what we call "eye talk" to tell me to do the same. Just as I sat up, she whispered "Start laughing," so I did. We sat there, laughing together at nothing, when the cute new guy came to our table.

"Oh my God! Dawson! I didn't even see you here." Sara said in her "sexy" voice. I rolled my eyes and scoffed, a little louder than i meant to. Sara kicked me under the wooden table. I bit my tongue so i wouldn't scream.

Dawson gave a HOTT half smile and flipped his shaggy, black hair to the left side of his zit-free face. "Hey Sara, hey Elizabeth. What's up."

"Oh, nothing, we're just drinking coffee. How about you." I said before Sara could. She shot me a dirty look, then put on her best smile.

"Yeah, same here. I was just about to go get another one, anybody else want one?" He said, staring right at me, smiling.

"Oh, sure, I'll have a chocolate iced coffee." Sara said handing him some money.

He shook his head no. "I can pay for it."

"Aw, you sure? I have plenty of money."

"No, I'm sure. What about you Elizabeth, you want something?" He asked, turning his attention back to me. His bright, blue eyes and amazingly beautiful smile made me blush. I sat there for a while, staring into his eyes, he stared back into mine. I tried to speak, but the words got hung in my throat, so i shook my head no.

Dawson shot me another smile, then turned to get more coffee.

"Oh...my...God. He is fine!" Sara said, biting her bottom lip to hold in her excitement.

"Uh-huh" was all I was able to get out. I sat there, only half listening to Sara's plans for her wedding with Dawson. I was thinking about what it would be like to be with him, myself. I instantly shook the thought from my head, regretting it. How could I do this to Ryan. He was closer to a boyfriend to me than Dawson ever would be. I bit my bottom lip and thought about what a bad person I was until Dawson came back to our table. He was carrying a bright orange tray with three iced coffees balanced on it.

I smiled and scooted over in the booth so he could have room to sit down. He sat the tray down and slid into the seat next to me. I was giving him a false-dirty look. He smiled, knowing what I was thinking.

"Don't worry, two of these are for me." He said in an innocent voice "Unless you want one."

"No, I'll pass. But thanks for the offer." I smiled. He shrugged and handed one of the iced coffees to Sara. We watched Dawson as he drank the first coffee in one gulp, then started on the other.

"Wow, you drink a lot of coffee. Did you have a long night or something?" I asked just as he sipped down the last drop of his second coffee.

"Ugh, yes. I got two hours of sleep last night, and four the night before. I was up all night taking care of my dad. He is super sick." Dawson said. He hung his head down and looked inside his empty coffee cup.

"Oh my god! I'm sorry!" Sara exclaimed

"Don't worry about it. He will get better, I think" Dawson said "I've got to go. See you guys in three days"

"Oh, that's right! Winter break is almost over!" I said

"Yep, all we've got is today, Saturday, and Sunday." Sara told me.

"Well, see you later Dawson." I smiled at him as he gathered up all of the coffee cups and threw them in the trash.

"See you guys later." He waved and gave another super model smile, and walked toward the exit of the crowed mall.

"Wow. Even in the week that he has been at our school, it surprises me how beautiful he is every time! And just look at his butt! It's almost as cute as his face, except it can't smile." Sara sighed.

"Yup," I agreed "He is pretty hot."

"Yeah, He wants me" Sara said, shaking her head.

I scoffed "No, you want him"

"Yeah, well, I can't argue with that. Come on, we still have a lot of shopping to do." Sara jumped up from the table and threw her plastic cups in the trash and waited for me to do the same, before walking back into the ocean of people.

**Yeah...this was pretty much a filler to introduce Dawson...The next chapter gets better, pinkie promise!!**


	4. back at school

**Sorry it took so long to update. I had a small writers block...but I have some good ideas coming up! **

**--**

It was dreadful Monday, and Sara, Ryan, and I were sitting together in study hall. "Sara! Dawson is here! Oh my god, he is so hot!" I giggled, fanning my flushed face.

"Elizabeth." Mr. Cook boomed while taking roll. "Here!" I exclaimed, jabbing my hand in the air.

Sara laughed, "Yeah, his smile gets me every time." We grabbed each other's hands and squealed.

"Girls!" Mr. Cook shouted.

"Oh, sorry." I apologized, letting go of her hands. Ryan put his head on his desk and laughed out loud. I saw Dawson laughing too, the only difference was he didn't know we were freaking out because of him.

Then I looked at Ryan. He smiled at me and rolled his eyes as he shook his head.

_Wow, _I thought, _His hair looks awesome! And his teeth are verrry white today._ "Oh my God!" I screamed. Was I really thinking that about... Ryan??

"Ms. Harp, one more outburst from you and it's off to detention!" Mr. Cook yelled, jabbing his finger toward the door.

I raised my hand to my forehead, army style, and said "Yes sir!" in a stern voice. After Mr. Cook had his back turned, I leaned over to Sara and whispered "He yelled louder than me, he is the one that needs detention!"

Sara burst out laughing. Mr. Cook cleared his throat and glared at her, "The same goes for you Ms. Green!"

I looked back at Ryan and smiled. He was leaned over a piece of notebook paper, sketching a girl with flowers in her hair. This was one of the times I need my mom. I could ask her if i should go for it with Ryan, or would that just ruin our friendship? My mom always knew what to do. Unfortunately, both of my parents were killed in a tragic car crash about three years ago.

I sighed and pulled my unfinished history homework out of my messenger bag.

--

"Sara, what's number six?" I whispered. We were sitting in second hour, math.

"Eleven" She whispered back. I quickly scribbled down the answers to the rest of the pop quiz and turned it into the teacher, Mrs. Hanks. A few minutes later, when the class was done with their quizzes, Mrs. hanks called out our scores.

"Tanner, 62; Kelley, 82; Hannah, 90; Peter, 98; Blake, 84; Laura, 100; Sara, 100; Elizabeth, 97;..." I jotted down my test score in my agenda as Mrs. Hanks finished calling out the scores.

I glanced at the clock, only three minutes until i get to see Ryan. I bounced in my chair impatiently, pretending to read my book. I read a few words and looked at the clock again, bouncing a little higher.

"What's wrong with you, ya gotta' pee or something?" Sara asked

"NO, I wanna get out of this stupid class. I hate math!" I lied. The second the ball rang, I jumped from my chair and bolted out the door, running into a tall, red-headed boy named Boris. I yelled a quick apology as I ran to my locker, grabbed my books, and ran to my third hour class. I pushed the door open and leaped into the room. I yelled "TA-DA!" as I jumped through the door and landed in front of the whole class. They all burst out laughing as I looked around.

"Whoops, this is the wrong class, huh?" I laughed. "Hey Mrs. Franks. See ya next hour!" I clicked my tounge and winked at her.

Mrs. Franks sighed "Ah, yes. I'm looking forward to it" she said sourly. I gave the class a "miss America" wave and blew a few kisses before shutting the door and sprinting down the hall to the classroom.

I pushed the door open and yelled "TA-DA" as I burst into my class, causing everyone to laugh, again. I smiled as I strolled to my desk beside Ryan.

My teacher, Mr. Martin, chuckled to himself and stood up from his desk. He towered over all of us. He was the tallest teacher in the school, but he was like a big teddy bear. "All right class, get out your notes and get ready to present your current events." He boomed. I slipped my binder from my desk and flipped to where we left off.

"Hey Ryan, what are you doing tonight?" I asked

"Uhh, I was planning on just hanging out at my place. You wanna come over?"

"Heck yes, I do. You silly little boy, I'm always up for some devil worship in your basement!" I said loud enough for the snobby girl that sits close to me, Hannah, to hear. She glared at us and turned away. We burst out laughing.

"So, is Sara coming too, or is just me and you?" Ryan asked.

"I don't care. Whatever you wanna do." I shrugged.

"Um, would it be to weird if it was just us?" He mumbled with his head down.

"OK, Ryan, think about this for a second. You and I met when we were four. We hung out until we were eight, when Sara first moved here. It was 'just us' for four years! I think it will be okay." I said sarcastically.

"Well, that's what I thought too, but I wanted to check with you first."

"Alright class, settle down!" Mr. Martin said.

I looked at Ryan. He winked at me, signaling we would talk more later. I nodded and turned my attention back to Mr. Martin.

--

It was after my fifth hour class, and I was walking to my locker, rubbing my head. My friend, Taylor Bennett, ran up and threw his arm around me.

"Hello darling, what's wrong with your head?" He asked. Taylor was from London, and his accent made him ten times cuter than most boys. Taylor had blond, almost white, hair that was short and spiked in random places, giving him that cute "bed head" look. With his bright blue eyes and his white-blond hair, he almost looks albino. If it wasn't for his perfect tan, he _would _look albino. Instead, he has more of a dangerous look.

"Well, I think I learned too much. I have a small head ache." I groaned and shot him a weak smile.

"Oh, I've got some Tylenol in my locker if you want some."

I smiled again at his cute accent. "Thanks, but I've got some too."

"Oh, alright. I'd better be going. See ya around, doll." Taylor winked and walked away.

Every time Taylor is around, I can't help but smiling. I shook my head and opened my locker. I dug through my messenger bag until I found a small red and blue pill. I poped in into my mouth quickley and swallowed it. Grabbing my messenger bag from my locker, I slammed my locker door closed and made a quick dash for the large, glass double doors at the end of the halllway.


End file.
